Edward Jenner, Cowpox Pustule, 1798

Cow-pox pustule on arm. An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae; London: Printed for the author by Sampson Low, and sold by Law, 1798. Jenner successfully tested the idea that an attack of cowpox, a milder form of smallpox, gave immunity to smallpox. The vaccine was the lymph material from a pustule of a person already vaccinated with cowpox. Pustules are skin blisters filled with pus that appear approximately five to eight days after vaccination. This is known as arm-to-arm vaccination. The points were rubbed, scratched on, or inserted into a cut in the skin. Edward Jenner (May 17, 1749 - January 26, 1823) was an English physician and scientist who was the pioneer of smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. His work is said to have saved more lives than the work of any other human. Science Museum, London

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1700s 1790s 1798 Cowpox Eighteenth Immune Immunologist Immunology Jenner Medicinal Microbiologist Pustule Smallpox Vaccine

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